Inequality and Gender in Spaces of Craft Production

Summary

This paper explores questions of inequality and gender in the Classic Maya world by examining the spatial relationships between and within local sites of craft activity. Pulling from recent archaeological work at the Classic period site of Xultun, Guatemala, we present research on two contexts that were connected to the production and use of limestone and lime plaster. In presenting this work, we discuss the broader social implications of these spaces as they relate to class and gender through archaeological evidence discovered within and beyond zones of craft activity at Xultun. We draw on recent multi-scalar approaches to craft production implemented in other Mesoamerican contexts—spanning intra-site household workshops, distribution loci and final use contexts as well as broader macro-regional networks of trade and specialized production. We argue such analyses can foster a better understanding not only of operational sequences underpinning the production of limestone monuments and finished plaster objects at Xultun, but also of the social factors that contributed to the spatial arrangements of craft production and use in ancient Maya production contexts more broadly.

Cite this Record

Inequality and Gender in Spaces of Craft Production. Mary Clarke, Franco Rossi, Boris Beltran, William Saturno. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia. 2017 ( tDAR id: 431309)